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Guest Commentary: September 4, 2001
Bush 'Fuzzy Math' Gimmicks Won't Hide GOP Raid of Social Security, Medicare
The Honorable Marin Frost
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I'm sure every family wishes they could be as creative with their checkbooks as the Bush Administration is being with the federal budget.
But they can't, and so Americans won't be fooled by the accounting tricks President Bush is using to hide the fact that Republican fiscal irresponsibility is forcing a raid on Social Security and Medicare.
When George W. Bush coined the phrase 'fuzzy math' last fall, no one imagined he'd turn it into an art form so quickly. But all the budgetary back-flips in the world won’t save Social Security, Medicare, education or defense from the Bush tax plan.
The truth is, in just 8 months President Bush and Congressional Republicans have squandered the surplus built by a decade of Democratic-led fiscal discipline. That's because earlier this year, Republicans ignored Democrats' pleas for fiscal responsibility, and passed a tax and budget plan that has forced a Hobson's choice between raiding Social Security and Medicare, or sacrificing priorities like education and national defense.
Before America was able to really use the surplus, Republican fiscal irresponsibility has put us back into a budgetary ditch. Getting out of this quagmire will require the type of bipartisanship and honest budgeting that Democrats have advocated all year - but that Republican leaders have spurned.
Now that the Republican budget is raiding Social Security and Medicare, I hope the President will now sit down with Democrats and put together an honest, fiscally responsible plan that addresses all of America's priorities - from tax relief, education and defense, to Social Security, Medicare and paying down the debt. Democrats stand ready to work with the President to fix the budget mess that Republican fiscal irresponsibility has created.
Note: The above commentary has been adpated from a statement Rep. Frost issued, August 16, 2001.
 How to contact Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas)
Reading a past guest commentary? Click here for the most current one.
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